Gautam Adani indicted in US over multimillion dollar bribery: What are the charges? What you should know

Industrialist Gautam S Adani, his nephew Sagar S Adani and several executives of his firm Adani Green Energy have been charged in the US over a $250 million bribery scheme in India for getting renewable energy contracts that would have earned projected profits of more than $2 billion after tax. 

The charges unveiled by the US justice department late Wednesday (Nov 21) alleged that several Adani officials engaged in bribing Indian officials in a multi-year scheme from 2020 to 2024. These bribes were hidden from US investors who were approached by the Adani group to raise billions of dollars, it alleged.

The charges are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, the justice department said in a release.                    

The investigation is being carried out by FBI along with other financial crime agencies.

Watch: Gautam Adani Charged By US Over Alleged $250 Million Bribe Plot

Gautam S Adani and the other business executives "allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses" and "defrauded investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements about bribery and corruption...[and] allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation," claimed FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.  

The offences were for "massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors."

"The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt, deceptive and obstructive conduct that violates US law, no matter where in the world it occurs,” the release quoted Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H Miller as saying.

Here are the details and specific allegations against Adani and his executives, along with a response from Adani Green.

What did the US Justice Department say about Adani charges?

The justice department alleged that the Adani executives ran a scheme 'to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and conceal' the scheme from US investors. 

The bribes, allegedly worth more than $250 million, were promised to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, said the release issued by the US Attorney's Office in Eastern District of New York.

Who are the Adani-linked executives indicted by US justice department?

The US justice depatment named as defendants Gautam S Adani, aged 62; Sagar S Adani, 30; Vneet S Jain, 53; Ranjit Gupta, 54; Cyril Cabanes, 50; Saurabh Agarwal, 48; Deepak Malhotra, 45; and Rupesh Agarwal, 50.

What did the US justice department indictment say about Gautam Adani bribe scheme?

> The five-count criminal indictment unsealed in a Brooklyn federal court charged the Adani executives with 'conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud' in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements.  

Also read: Major setback for Adani Group, SEBI issues notice as chairperson Buch faces scrutiny

> It specifically charged Ranjit Gupta, Rupesh Agarwal, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

They allegedly orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars.

> Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from US and international investors, said United States Attorney Peace Breon Peace when announcing the charges. 

What exactly is the Adani bribe scheme as alleged by US Justice Department?

> The scheme was to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice, stated Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller.  

> Between 2020 and 2024, the executives allegedly bribed Indian government officials for contracts projected to generate $2 billion in profits after tax for 20 years.  

> "On several occasions, Gautam S. Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance the bribery scheme, and the defendants held in-person meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution," the justice department alleged.  

> The executives 'frequently discussed their efforts on the bribery scheme' including through an electronic messaging application and 'extensively documented their corrupt efforts,' it claimed.

Also read: Hindenburg vs Adani: Sebi chief Madhabi's links need judicial probe, ex-official EAS Sarma tells WION

> Sagar R Adani, alleged the US department, 'used his cellular phone to track specific details of the bribes offered and promised to government officials'.

> Vneet S Jaain used his cellular phone to photograph a document summarising various bribe amounts a US issuer owed the company for its respective portion of the bribes, alleged the justice department.

> Rupesh Agarwal 'prepared and distributed to other defendants multiple analyses using PowerPoint and Excel', summarising various options for paying and concealing bribe payments, it claimed.

> Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain 'conspired to misrepresent' Adani Green's anti-bribery and corruption practices and conceal the scheme from US investors and international financial institutions in order to obtain financing, it alleged.

> Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain caused Adani Green Energy and some of its subsidiaries 'to raise capital on the basis of false and misleading statements in connection with two US dollar-denominated syndicate loans totalling more than $2 billion from investors and two bond offerings for more than $1 billion underwritten by international financial institutions, which were marketed and sold to investors in the US, claimed the US justice department.

> Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S. Jaain caused Adani Green 'to make false statements in their consolidated financial statements and to the market and investors regarding the bribery scheme, it alleged.

> Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal 'conspired to obstruct the grand jury, FBI and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations into the bribery scheme, said the indictment.  

> They agreed to delete electronic materials related to the bribery scheme, including emails, electronic messages and 'bribery analyses.

> They later withheld material information from an internal investigation by a US issuer company and 'falsely denied their participation' in the scheme to representatives of the FBI, DOJ and SEC at meetings in Brooklyn, New York. On this account, Cabanes, Agarwal, Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

How has Adani Green responded to charges?

In a statement, an Adani Group spokesperson said the allegations "are baseless and denied."

As stated by the US Department of Justice itself, said the spokesperson, "the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty."

"All possible legal recourse will be sought," it added.

Earlier, Adani Green said in a statement:  "The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The United States Department of Justice have also included our Board member, Vneet Jaain, in such criminal indictment."

In light of these developments, it added, "our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD-denominated bond offerings."